Dark Path
by X.x.i.s.a.b.e.l.x.X
Summary: What if Morgan had always known that Ciaran was her father? What if they even lived together? And what if the Destroyer was practicing Dark magic? A thrilling tale of Morgan McEwan and her new struggles with not the dark, but with the light.
1. Introduction

Morgan woke up to the annoying sound of her alarm. _Why do they make these things anyway? Any tune you play on the stupid radio will sound bad,_ she thought. Something about how the radio plays a song contorts it into a horrible, ear piercing sound. Morgan finally hit the snooze button and got out from her queen bed. She went over to the mirror to study her features. Plain as usual. _Why do I have to be so incredibly plain? It's a wonder anyone likes me,_ she thought sadly.

Morgan brushed my teeth and went over to the kitchen. Her father, Ciaren McEwan, was sitting at the table reading a book. Typical, her father was reading, her fat, plump cat, Dagda, was sitting on his place mat, and nobody had cooked any breakfast.

"Thanks for the delicious breakfast!" She said loudly, and Ciaren looked up startled.

"Oh I'm sorry. I must have forgotten again." He said and stuck his nose back in his book.

"No duh…" Morgan muttered under her breath and took out the eggs. She had her breakfast and left the house to visit Cal. They were friends, going out for a couple of years, marriage coming close to mind, when it just sort of fell apart. Now, they were just friends.

When she arrived at the big house, Selene Belltower answered the door with an apron on.

"Cal?" she asked politely and Morgan nodded. She yelled for Cal and invited her inside. Morgan sat on the warm, leather couch in the living room until she heard Cal's familiar footsteps entering.

"Hey!" Morgan said happily and they gave each other a friendly hug. His muscular arms felt welcoming against her waist. They had known each other since they were barely aloud to leave the hospital.

"To whom do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, teasingly and Morgan was forced to mock punch him.

"My father. He's still driving me crazy. He doesn't do anything around the house, he only disciplines me with my magic. I can't stand it!" She said with more rage than necessary, and he gave her a small smile. He understood her completely, for he had the same problem with his mother.

"Talk to him about it, and if that doesn't work, cast a small spell," he told Morgan, half serious half joking around. Him and Morgan decided on going to the park. They walked around and had some ice cream, scried a bit, and talked about the last Amyranth circle.

"It went perfectly!" Cal argued.

"Are you kidding? Half the people almost passed out from the power! That isn't perfect, that means we need to improve!" Morgan argued right back. The last circle they had conducted so much power it got out of control. Morgan had been part of Amyranth all her life. She was the destined leader when Ciaren died, and she was one of the most powerful witches there. She had always loved the circles there; they were so natural, so powerful. She made friends with everyone there and people outside the coven. Most people didn't know she participated in dark activity, or at least that's what they call it. Morgan had grown up learning it not as dark magic, but as a different and more powerful way of learning magic.

"Exactly! It was so powerful." Cal retorted. Cal wasn't very powerful, but he knew a lot about magic. Morgan was much more powerful than him and Selene combined, but no one would ever mention that.

"Powerful doesn't mean perfect!" Morgan snapped back. They weren't having a violent fight, just a chat between two friends. "Bye Cal, I bet Fathers worried sick why I'm not home by now, considering I blocked myself from scrying and witch messages." She informed him and got off the park bench they were sitting on and ran home. When Morgan entered through the door the look on her fathers face confirmed her suspicions. She was dead.

"Where have you been?" Ciaren asked quietly, focusing almost all his strength on keeping his temper down.

"No where," Morgan said lazily and started to go upstairs.

"Where have you been?" Ciaren repeated, and his tone stopped Morgan dead in her tracks.

"

Why do you want to know?" Morgan snapped at him. She loved Ciaren more than anything, but he could get very annoying.

"I wanted to know where my daughter was! Don't you think I would be worried sick if my child left the house and didn't come back for _4 hours_!" His anger lashed out and Morgan felt as though she had been slapped.

"I was with Cal! Are you happy now? All because you don't have a social life doesn't mean I can't." Morgan told him and his anger seemed to dissolve.

'Thank the Goddess," he said quietly. Morgan became worried.

"What do you mean? Was I in any danger?" Morgan's voice was quivery and scared.

"I am going to tell you the truth, my daughter. You deserve it," Ciaren's face had a saddened look on it, his hazel eyes looking into her own. "A seeker is in town by the name of Hunter. He is suspicious of you. Someone tipped him off that you practice dark magic and he is hunting for you. If he found you I don't know what I would've done." Ciaren came over and gave Morgan a huge hug, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Father," Morgan said pushing him off. "You know as well as I do that I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me." She tried to show a reassuring smile. "I want to meet this seeker. See if he'll be any fun."


	2. The Seeker

Morgan went out to Practical Magic to speak to Alice. Alice was such a good friend, but blinded by Morgan's lies. She still believed that Morgan was dedicated to the light, not the dark. Morgan sometimes felt bad about the lies she told the poor women, but got over it when she thought about what the outcome might be if she _did_ tell her.

Of course Alice knew she was related to Ciaren, everyone did. But they believed the cock-and-bull story that Morgan had told them about her renouncing the dark and trying to help her father see the right way. Also, they believed that Morgan had left him in Scotland, which is a total lie. They moved to America so he wouldn't be found as easily.

Morgan had a hunch that Hunter may be at Practical Magic, for that was where Morgan was when she wasn't at home or with Cal. She skipped through the door and saw someone talking to Alice.

"Why hello, Morgan," Alice said, looking up from her conversation. "What a pleasant surprise! Please come here, someone would like to meet you. He just came to town." She pointed towards the man she was talking to. "This is Hunter Niall, he is a seeker for the council."

Something about Hunter attracted Morgan immensely. It was probably just his beautifully sculpted face and pale gold hair. Also, his Greek god-like features that were laid all over his body were a pleasant surprise. His green eyes pierced Morgan.

"Hello Morgan," Hunter Niall said, sticking out his hand. "Nice to meet you." He was very formal. Morgan cast out her senses and picked up on suspicious feelings and even fear. Morgan congratulated herself silently. She scared most witches, but a seeker is definitely a bonus. She felt Hunter cast out his senses and shut him out quickly.

"You could just ask," Morgan said, acting all fake offended. He blushed and muttered something about not wanting to be rude. Like casting out your senses is better, but Morgan ignored that and flashed an Oscar-award-winning smile. He seemed pleased with himself.

"Would you like me to show you around? I know this town better than most." Morgan said this with such a persuasive tone she was even surprised. Hunter seemed to react as planned and said yes almost immediately.

"Oh, great! Follow me, we could take a walk." Again came Morgan's sickeningly persuasive smile. She had inherited her smooth talking from her father, Ciaren.

They both left the store, the door jingling behind them, and started chatting about recent Wiccan discoveries, such as a new spell to completely rid yourself of a head cold.

"It really is brilliant. I mean, completely cured of a headache! That's so spectacular." Morgan was using her more sophisticated vocabulary.

"Yes, it really is a miracle. But these witches should be spending more time on thing like stopping your fathers coven," Hunter said and suddenly Morgan felt a horrible rush of anger towards this seeker. Who is he to talk about Amyranth? He has never experienced the magic, how beautiful and natural! Morgan reined her anger with difficulty, still keeping a smile on her face. She gave herself a silent pat on the back for her control.

"Ah, yes, I thought we might hit that subject. I feel the same way, but little things like no headaches make the day all the better." Morgan told him this in a playful tone but Hunters face was as hard as stone.

"The day could be even better if hundreds of innocent people didn't die," he said stiffly.

"I'm sorry to break it to you but it is not under my control what my father does and doesn't do. I can't control him anymore than you can and it really ticks me off when people ask me to control him. You don't understand, do you? You have never been blamed for things that your other family member has done!" Morgan got really mad because everyone, even Amyranth coven members, expects her to control her father, or make him do something.

"I didn't mean it like that-" Hunter stammered but Morgan cut him off.

"Don't even try it. We both know why you stopped by. I don't practice dark magic, I hate it. I would never participate in something so cruel." Morgan loved how convincing she sounded. She could see Hunters rage building up. She smiled smugly to herself.

"I think you would! You lived with a cruel man for most of your life, you and Cal Blaire are best friends, and your mother was killed. All these things point towards leaning to the dark side!" Hunter shouted, his face red.

"Isn't it possible for me to resist? Why is that totally out of question? This is why I absolutely hate the council. All they do is look at the bad aspects of people! What is wrong with you?" Suddenly Morgan wasn't in check anymore and the truth was seeping out. She had to stop quickly before she let out any important information.

"Look, the bottom line is I don't practice dark magic. I hope I don't seem like the type of person that would. Dark magic repulses me, and I hope you understand." Morgan said this as calm as possible. Hunter's expressions softened and he looked like he was reining his anger.

"I'm so sorry, Morgan. I cannot ignore the possibility that you practice dark magic. It is my job to make sure you don't-" Morgan interrupted.

"No, it's your job to make sure I _do_ practice dark magic," Morgan said sadly and walked away. A hand gripped her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Morgan. I have to investigate you, it's my job. I do not think someone as cheerful and carefree as you would dare practice dark magic, but what I think doesn't count at the moment. I repeat, please forgive me." Hunter sounded so sorry that Morgan turned around and stared him in the eye. Inside, Morgan could tell Hunter was genuinely sorry. She was so surprised at how horrible she felt lying to this seeker so openly. Something about him was just so intriguing. She had to be on her guard.

"I-I-I have to go… Maybe you would like to come to one of my private circles to see how I work, or maybe come to a regular one?" Morgan had an extra coven she attended just in case anyone suspected her of working with Amyranth. Everyone in Amyranth had a separate coven. She preferred not to practice light magic, it made her feel weird after all the rituals she had done with her type of magic, but she practices it never the less. It is good to know both sides.

"Umm… sure. I'll attend a private circle. When should I come over?" Hunter asked this strangely. He seemed curious about Morgan's open invitation.

"How about 7:00 tonight? I made cookies!" Morgan said this with false enthusiasm. Hunter laughed and Morgan was pleased with herself. She glanced upwards towards his lips. They were so round and red, so perfect. _Stop that! He's a seeker, your enemy, e-n-e-m-y!_ Thought Morgan. She mentally slapped herself. What an idiot she was being! He was against everything that she was.

"Sounds great," Said Hunter, still chortling. He turned around and headed towards his car. Morgan all the sudden stopped him. Something took her over, and she turned him around. She tilted her head up towards his eyes, and kissed him strongly on the lips. It felt so good and so natural to Morgan, but she knew she would never kiss him again. His lips tasted like cinnamon and felt warm and welcoming. He pressed against her and the backed up against the car. They entwined tongues and pressed harder. Morgan, finally leaving her little dream world, pushed Hunter away.

"I'm sorry," She said quietly and turned away. Before she had the time to turn she looked up into Hunters face and noticed hurt and lust. She truly wanted to do that again, but knew it was best to be separated. Morgan went back inside Practical Magic in search of Alice. She found her hunched over a pile of books.

"Need any help?" Morgan asked politely and Alice laughed and nodded sadly. Morgan murmured a charm and the books flew back into their rightful places. Alice look impressed.

"Where did you learn that trick?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, I picked it up at a club. Pretty useful, huh?" Morgan tried to cover up the fact that she had not learned this at a club, but inherited it from her father for cleaning her room. That little charm was considered dark magic because it was not usually used for that purpose, but to coax things into doing your bidding. It's sort of like hypnotizing except if the form has a smart structure, like Albert Einstein, it will not be affected. The books are not a smart structure, so you can coax them into doing things that nature would never allow, such as flying onto shelves.

"Well, it's very useful. Would you like a little present for your trouble?" Alice asked in a cheerfully.

"My trouble? I only said a little rhyme! That, to me, is no trouble at all. No thank you." Morgan said smiling. Alice beamed and went back over to the cash register.

Morgan had eventually bought a beautiful athame made of silver with embroidered roses and a gold necklace with silver weaved in every few inches. She held the necklace tight to her chest and looked up towards the sky. There was a beautiful white cloud contorted into a face.

Hunter 

"Oh Goddess, help me," Morgan pleaded towards the sky. "I can't fall for him! Please, oh please, take him out of my mind. Make me forget my wonderful feelings that I cannot let go of. Make in my minds eye that his beautiful god-like features become contorted and twisted. And make it so that every time I hear his voice it is piercing and unbearable, harsh and ugly and not soothing and welcoming. Make him the monster from my worst nightmare instead of the prince from my loveliest day-dream." Morgan screamed. "And most of all, rip him from my life. Make it so we never meet, make it so I forget, and make it so we will never meet again." Morgan didn't know what to do about Hunter. He attracted her in such a manor she even dared to call it love.

"I think I am in love with Hunter, the seeker, my natural enemy. I am in love with someone who wants to strip me of my greatest joy. I am in love with a monster," Morgan whispered and slowly let go of her necklace that fell to the ground.

"I will no longer love Hunter, just as I will no longer carry this necklace around. As long as this necklace is touching my body this spell will be no more. But in the meantime, my emotions will disappear for Hunter, the one I truly adore." And as those words were spoken, though spoken softly and almost mumbled, Morgan felt all her emotions towards Hunter slip out of her body, out of her mind, and out of her heart.


End file.
